Mad MMX

Unhindered by a fixed narrative framework, a designer's only 'limitations' when designing an event title is creating a visual/metaphorical expression of the content and atmosphere of the event. And presenting the names of speakers and sponsors. And even though many events nowadays operate as brands that sell us an experience, designers tend to be more free in their interpretation of the event's identity and their public image, as opposed to corporate brands or movies that tend to be more conservative. This freedom allows for some real innovation to happen within the field of event title design, as shown by the Mad MMX title sequence by the Spanish motion graphics and visual effects studio Physalia.

Staying true to the DIY credo, Physalia created an unpolished and bold but truly innovative piece of motion art. One of the most experimental title sequences we've come across recently.

“Taking advantage of the freedom we were being offered, we tried to take an experimental approach without using a storyboard or animatic, such as we would use for the kind of commercial project we usually work on,” explains Pablo Barquín, one of Physalia's designers. “Domestika, the event organisers, didn't even ask to see anything of what we were doing until the actual festival premiere.” Physalia opted to 'play' with software developed by Kyle McDonald –a New York-based visual artist who created a simple and fast DIY 3D scanner, which he shares for free.

What sparked your interest in Kyle's McDonald's technology?Pablo Barquín: “All technology to do with the production of visual effects interests us. Specifically, any method that allows us to scan physical objects to make them 3D gets our attention. A while ago, we experimented with laser scanners. And we discovered other commercial kits which allowed precision scanning, but they were outside our budget.

“After seeing the results Kyle got in one of his tests, we thought they were interesting enough to use as the basis for our piece. We looked for ways to make things a little more unusual, pushing the "breaks" and noises the system produced and we played around with all kinds of surfaces and objects to obtain that, constantly moving, electronic esthetic.

“After various scanning tests, we decided to begin by, somehow, sequencing the distinct video phases. We had the typography for all the festival participants, we had material from scanning an actual person, and lastly, we had the 3D reconstruction of this scanned data.”

Part of what makes this title sequence so compelling is the way that Physalia succeeded in integrating all these different visual effects and styles combined with live action in a motion design piece that does not feel fragmented, but instead expresses a single vision.

The process“For the typography, we cut and pasted each letter against a black background," says Barquín. “In this way we created distortions and interference, which worked well within the general esthetic of the video.

“For the conventional 3D sequence of the torso we used the mesh obtained from the scan and after treating and texturing it, we added the internal anatomy. The skin you can see in this bit was created using Kyle's software. We optimized the number of polygons and textured the different parts to obtain a complete torso to which we added the internal anatomy. These parts are conventional 3D models which we adapted to achieve a faceted look and the low resolution we were seeking. To see the individual layers we used out-of-sync slices, so that the various internal parts can be seen.”

“Lastly, we added bits of live action footage and projected beams of light simulating the scanner's patterns.”

Karin Fong used a similar 3D scan technology as a visual reference for her title sequence for Termination Salvation. “There were a lot of references that served to help us find the esthetic and the editing style. For example: Radiohead's video clip "House of Cards" (YouTube) and all the variations created by people all over the world, thanks to the data for this video clip being available to download and try out. We were also inspired by Woody Vasulka & Brian O'Reilly's experimental work as well as Depeche Mode's music video "Fragile Tension" (YouTube).

Year of production

Title designer

Physalia is a motion-graphics and visual effects studio in Barcelona. It was established in 2006 and consists of three people: Pablo Barquín, Marcos Coral and Mauro Gimferrer.

“When we set up the studio, we already knew each other from a Masters degree program,” says Pablo Barquín. “Not long before establishing Physalia, we realised we didn't just share an interest in 3D animation, but we were also very interested in experimentation and development in other areas like photography, electronics and video, among others.”